YouView could be forced to change its name

Lord Alan Sugar’s online television service, YouView, has already taken years
longer than expected to launch. And now, just as it was finally getting off
the ground, it could be forced to change its name.

YouView, backed by the BBC, BT, ITV, Channel 4 and Talk Talk, has lost a High Court appeal over the brand because it was “confusingly similar” to the “YourView” trademark owned by another company.

The joint venture backed by the BBC, BT, ITV, Channel 4 and Talk Talk, has lost a High Court appeal over the brand because it was “confusingly similar” to the “YourView” trademark owned by another company.

YouView said it “has no intention of changing its name” until it heard the outcome of a number of other legal disputes. However, legal experts said that it may face an injunction limiting its use of the brand.

The ruling will embarrass YouView’s stakeholders, and marks a major blow for some of them - particularly telecoms companies Talk Talk and BT who have made YouView a central part of their strategy.

The project, which Lord Sugar chairs, offers BBC iPlayer-style catch up services for a range of broadcasters, offering viewers an alternative to expensive pay-TV services for the price of a set-top box. It was originally scheduled for launch in 2010 but a series of clashes over technology and the best marketing strategy meant that it only hit shops in July.

BT and Talk Talk hope to use the service to help prevent customers from hanging up on the telecoms providers, in favour of cut-price packages from the likes of BSkyB and VirginMedia who bundle broadband and telephone services into their television deals. Talk Talk said this week that it has already signed 29,000 customers to the service.

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The Your View trademark is owned by a Gloucestershire-based telecoms company, Total, which applied to be able to use the name in 2009. Managing director Stuart Baikie said on Wednesday that it had been “fully vindicated”, adding that YourView was a “key differentiator” for the company.